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Reed wins keirin in Los Angeles

Carson, Calif. (January 20, 2008)—

After capturing a silver medal in the sprint on Friday, Reed turned in a commanding performance in the keirin to earn her second medal of the weekend and her 18th-career World Cup medal. Reed won both her first- and second-round heats before taking the final ahead of Willy Kanis (NED), Gong Jinjie (CHN), Lisandra Guerra Rodriguez (CUB), Svetlana Grankovskaya (RUS) and Anna Meares (AUS).

With a solid performance in the sprint already under her belt, Reed entered Sunday’s keirin – arguably her strongest event – as one of favorites for the gold medal.

photo Jennie Reed/US Cycling

“I always knew that if my sprint was good then my keirin would be really good, so that really helped my confidence," explained Reed following her victory. “Tonight I just felt great. I went to the line with a clear mind – to just have fun and see what would happen.”

Reed’s gold closed the U.S. medal count at five. Earlier in the day, the women’s team pursuit squad of Kristin Armstrong (Boise, Idaho), Lauren Franges (Asheville, N.C.) and Christen King (Huntington Beach, Calif.) rode to a bronze medal in the United States’ World Cup debut. After the event was added to the international program this season, the U.S. skipped the first two rounds in Sydney and Beijing but brought a squad to Los Angeles. In the morning’s qualifying session, the trio clocked a 3:35.956 over three kilometers to earn the fourth seed and set up a head-to-head match against Germany for the bronze medal. In the medal round, the U.S. squad shaved a remarkable four seconds off its qualifying time to place third overall with a 3:31.453.

USA Cycling conducted six women’s individual pursuit training camps over the course of the last year before participating in its first official U.S. National Team competition on Sunday.

“I think we all came in expecting a medal,” said Franges of her team’s expectations. “It would have been nice to ride for the gold, but being the first time, we had to start somewhere. It was good to get the first one out of the way and get a medal for the U.S.”

In the gold medal final, the Ukraine clocked a winning time of 3:27.438 to beat Russia.

With several of the U.S.’ top women’s endurance riders having now participated in a major team pursuit competition (Sarah Hammer, Dotsie Bausch and Reed teamed up for a national title at the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships in October with a time of 3:34.783), it has showed it’s capable of contending for a medal when the event makes its world championship debut in Great Britain later this year.

“Right now our goal for the program is the world championships,” explained Jim Miller, USA Cycling's director of endurance programs. “We have five or six really strong riders that we can plug in and be successful with. The numbers we put up today have been consistent with the winning times at the first two World Cups, but I think you’ll see a whole new beast at the world championships.”

About USA CyclingRecognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling promotes American cycling through its 60,000 members and 2,500 annual events. USA Cycling associations include the BMX Association (BMX), National Off-Road Bicycle Association (mountain bike), U.S. Cycling Federation (road/track), the National Collegiate Cycling Association and the U.S. Professional Racing Organization (professional men’s road). For more information, visit www.usacycling.org.